In the table, Shakhtar were three points behind Dynamo. The Pitmen’s starting line-up was virtually full-strength. The changes concerned only the left flank: Ismaily and Bernard were fielded in the starting eleven. Taison and Makysm Malyshev were not included in the match squad. For defender Oleksandr Kucher, it was the 250th game for Shakhtar.

First half

The Pitmen immediately put emphasis on the attack and in the opening 12 minutes, they created as many as three chances. The main threat was coming from Bernard, who would skip past his opponent on the flank and supply team-mates with his passes. Oleksandr Gladkyy’s shot was blocked by the defender, and the ball flew over the crossbar. Marlos had the best chance to score but his shot was also blocked by the defender as well.

The hosts had one dangerous chance, when Andriy Pyatov parried away a Yarmolenko shot from a tight angle for a corner. After that the main action was taking placed in the middle of the pitch. There were not many chances, but on the stroke of the first half Bernard was again in the spotlight. Another slalom run from the Brazilian on 41 minutes led to a traditional pass towards the penalty area for Marlos to send the ball into the bottom corner. Shakhtar went into the half time break 1-0 up.

Second half

While the teams were in the dressing room, FFU president Andriy Pavelko awarded FIFA Golden Boot to Viktor Kovalenko, who became the top scorer of the U20 World Cup in New Zeland. After the game resumed, Dynamo tried to step up their game, with the Pitmen, in turn, organizing dangerous counterattacks. In such a situation, in the Dynamo penalty area, Alex Teixeira was brought down – the referee waved play on.

On 59 minutes, Shakhtar managed to organize an attack in numbers: Bernard drifted towards centre and made a pass to Darijo Srna, who drilled a cross into the penalty area, before the ball bounced to Marlos. The Brazilian struck goal wards from close range, the ball hit the hand of Dynamo’s defender, but bounced straight to Teixeira who made it 0-2. After 8 minutes, Gladkyy put Teixeira through on goal, before the latter came inside the penalty area to seal his brace, scoring his 16th goal in 11 league games.

The Pitmen continued attacking. Gladkyy could have scored, especially in the episode, when forward tried to lob the onrushing goalkeeper, - the ball flew just wide of the goal. Dynamo committed a lot of fouls and were reduced to ten men, when Gonzales was booked for second time. The referee’s final whistle signaled Shakhtar’s confident 3-0 win, which was Dynamo’s heaviest home defeat in the history of the Ukrainian league.

The Pitmen caught up and overtook Dynamo in the competition table. Both teams have 28 points. Shakhtar will play their next game on 30 October away at Zorya. On Wednesday, the Pitmen will play in Sweden against Malmo in the Champions League.